Kappy’s Spotlight — Supernova

It’s time for another #KappySpotlight, where I talk about badges/items/partners/etc… that are generally seen as “bad” and not used very often by challenge runners. I dive deeper into why they’re perceived the way they are with some cool strategies centered around them mixed in! Today I’ll be covering one of Mario’s Special Moves in Paper Mario: TTYD — SUPERNOVA!

SP Cost: 6Move: Deals 15 (piercing) damage to all enemiesGlitz Pit Rank: 8th (of 8 Special Moves)Supernova, as you can see, was rated the worst of all of Mario’s Special moves. This is largely in part due to Art Attack costing 2 less SP and has the ability to deal more than 15 damage to a group of enemies. With max SP, you can fire off two Art Attacks before running out, which is pretty crazy considering the damage you can deal, so Supernova gets overshadowed really hard. It’s also the last Special Move you get in TTYD, making it a pretty mediocre reward for completing Chapter 7 when you’ve probably been KO’ing enemies left and right with Art Attack anyway. However, in runs where you’re limited in badges, Supernova can make for a nice way to deal massive damage to large bosses in Chapter 8 (Gloomtail and Shadow Queen are the only ones that come to mind), although you’re usually better off using Power Lift.Unlike some of the worst badges in TTYD, Supernova does have a niche use despite being so heavily out-classed by Art Attack. That niche use…is in Level Zero Pit. Art Attack struggles in two areas — hitting all enemies if they’re not in a straight line, or if there are 5 enemies on the field. Both limit Art Attack’s damage output. Many players have struggled to deal 12 damage to all 5 Elite Wizzerds with Art Attack, and if you have a combo of enemies in the air and on the ground, your circle has to be much bigger to deal 3 damage to all enemies consistently. So, let’s see where Supernova can be used well!

This is one of the only times where Supernova is better over Art Attack, and it’s because of the consistency of 15 damage no matter what. This strategy is pretty simple and is a staple in Level Zero Pit runs. You Ultra Hammer First Strike to deal damage to all enemies, then Supernova Turn 1 to KO both the Swampire and Elite Wizzerd, and Gulp to KO the Amazy Dayzees. In Level Zero, you don’t level up partners, so Yoshi only deals 4 damage with Gulp. It results in basically 100 Star Points, so you get a free Level Up utilizing this combo. Supernova is chosen over Art Attack because it’s very much possible to not deal enough damage to both Amazy Dayzees to KO them with Gulp while also KO’ing the Elite Wizzerd and Swampire with Art Attack.

This and 5 Elite Elite Wizzerds are two prime examples of Supernova being a great option, but like I said earlier, it’s pretty unoptimal everywhere else. Still, let’s try fitting it into a couple boss strategies!

This is just a slight variation of a common strategy utilizing Goombella as a powerhouse, but we fit in Supernova to save ourselves items, FP, and BP! Gloomtail has 80 HP and 2 DEF, so we need a lot of ATK to bring him down quickly. Ultra Rank Goombella has a base ATK of 3, so – Glooomtail’s 2 DEF is 1. We add 3 from two Power Plus P badges and P-Up D-Down P, then add in a Charge and Power Punch T1 for +4 ATK. Now Goombella’s at 8, but we Double Dipped, so we’re at 1 FP, so it’s an easy Point Swap to Goombella, adding +7 ATK with Mega Rush P and Power Rush P. I thought I’d fit in a strategy that utilizes superguarding, so we do all the prep Turn 1, which requires a superguard (or some luck with a Close Call P) to preserve Goombella’s peril status into Turn 2. Because the strategy is only two turns, it’s not terrible to require a superguard — it’s an easy reset and the save block is right next to the room Gloomtail is in.

Onto Turn 2. With a 6-cap, Goombella brings down Gloomtail to 5 HP with 15 + 14 + 13 + 12 + 11 + 10 = 75 damage, but we’re using Supernova, so let’s cut it off at 5 bonks and subtract the 10 damage bonk to bring the damage down to 65 and Gloomtail down to 15 HP left for a nice clean Supernova KO. Nice! We could’ve used a Thunder Bolt with 6 bonks, but we’re cutting down items used by KO’ing with Supernova instead, and we have enough ATK for a clean 65 damage with Multibonk.

Time to use Triple Dip against Grodus! This strat uses NO DANGER OR PERIL; awesome, since we’ve been abusing it a lot lately. As I mentioned in my Tornado Jump spotlight, Grodus has 1 DEF naturally and +1 DEF for every Grodus X on the field. We’ll be using Supernova for that since it pierces DEF.

Turn 1 is the setup. We use Earth Tremor to save on an item to take out all the Grodus Xs. We then Triple Dip a Power Punch, Spicy Pasta, and Hot Sauce on Goombella for +4 ATK. With that, two Power Plus P badges, and P-Up D-Down P, Goombella is sitting at 10 ATK, 9 against Grodus’s 1 DEF. Grodus uses lightning and deals damage, but that doesn’t really matter here. He summons two Grodus Xs.

Turn 2, we destroy him. Supernova takes care of the Grodus Xs while also dealing damage to Grodus, putting him at 35 HP. With only 1 DEF now, Goombella will start at 9 with Multibonk, with a 5-cap, Multibonk deals 9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 5 = 35 damage, just enough to deal perfect damage to Grodus and KO him! We also achieved perfect SP use with Earth Tremor and Supernova = 8 total SP used, and we have 8 SP max.

And there you have it. Supernova is actually a pretty fun move to use, and it feels great to see “15” flash above all enemies on the field. While Art Attack basically renders it obsolete in most situations, there are a few times where it is actually the optimal choice, and it can still be worked into some cool strategies. I don’t strategize often with special moves as a way of dealing damage, so this was actually really fun to do! As always, feel free to utilize these strategies or modify them when playing yourself! Maybe you’ll find another cool way to use Supernova.

That’s it for this spotlight. Next time I’ll be doing an item from TTYD and asking for that item from readers like you on Twitter! Make sure to follow me there so you can voice what item you’d like me to cover!